Reasons to love Spring

Reason Number One:
The walk to our town centre is made much brighter by the endless blossom trees en route - pinks, whites, creams... against the bright blue sky they provide photo opportunities that could be straight out of the Country Living calendar!


Reason Number Two:
Life in the undergrowth - once Spring has arrived you can find lovely little things in the most unlikely places. We walk through an old subway to get to the shops, which is surrounded by trees and bushy banks - one solitary bluebell has decided to make it's home here, along with a ladybird who was sunning itself on a leaf!


Reason Number Three:
Sowing and growing - it's always easier to get up in the morning during the Spring when it's light and sunny (even when you've been ripped from sleep by a toddler who's excited to start his day!), and even more so when you've got plants and seedlings to investigate.
My beans are doing so well that the first batch have now been planted out on the balcony, and the front of the house is starting to look more the way I want it to every day. (My neighbour also likes growing things, so she's fine having to battle her way past the foliage - but I'm waiting nervously to see whether anyone else complains...)

I'm so looking forward to the geraniums blooming, and the lavender flowering - I'm going to have a go at making dried lavender bags this year, it's one of those things I've always wanted to do, but never got round to. The corn and courgettes are also doing rather well, although aren't quite ready to move to a new outdoor home just yet - when they are, I'm going to mix them in with the beans in 'three sisters' planting style. Apparently they'll help each other out - and being a new gardener with only a mediocre amount of space, I need all the help I can get!


Inside, meanwhile, my potatoes are chitting away happily, and I've planted a clove of garlic which I also accidentally 'chitted' - it's recommended that you use garden centre garlic to grow your own, though, as shop bought edible garlic isn't very good at growing, but we'll see...